Joachim of Chios

Holy New Martyr Joachim of Chios (Joachim II the Chian) was metropolitan of Lemnos in the eighteenth century and was martyred in October 1770, during the events known as the Orlov revolt.

That year, Russian troops under Alexei Orlov camped on Lemnos and besieged the Turkish garrison shut up in the Kastro, the island's capital. For a few months the inhabitants thought the island would be liberated. But as soon as the Turkish fleet appeared, the Russians left, and the island was left defenceless before the vengeful fury of the conquerors. Great massacres and destruction followed, which Patriarch Meletios described, saying that many Christians were killed and plundered, others fled, and their hierarch Joachim the Chian was killed and the church called the Holy Trinity was demolished.

According to oral tradition, the martyr metropolitan was dragged into the courtyard of the metropolitan church and hanged on the bridge over a nearby torrent. Joachim was proclaimed a saint by the Church of Greece, and his memory is kept together with that of the Orthodox new martyrs.